From 波羅蜜 (“paramita; perfection”), with the addition of the 艹 (“grass”) radical to indicate a plant.
The association between paramita and jackfruit may have resulted from the confusion of the two Sanskrit loanwords 波羅蜜 (MC puɑ lɑ miɪt̚, “paramita”) and 波那娑 (MC puɑ nɑ sɑ, “jackfruit”).